Spoilers! Chapter One - Eastwards the Winds Blew is up on Tor

[Amandera]

I don't understand why Perrin still seems to be trying to hide his Wolfbrotherliness from Rand. Why not just say "smell," instead of "...seem?" I mean, he's already outed himself to his entire army, from Two Rivers folks to Whitecloaks, so why not just get it out in the open with Rand?

That's a good question. Especially, when your childhood friend just explained to you that he's insane.

 

I mentioned this recently on the boards - this is one of my gripes throughout the entire series - the good guys almost never share information with the other good guys.

I cleansed saidar - nope

killed a forsaken - sometimes nope

can cure taint induced madness - nope

 

etc - nope

Yes, this has been used to such extremes that it's become very irritating. No one shares all of their secrets but Perrin should have at least told about the Dreamspike because of the Black Tower, and he could have said "BTW, Rand, if you suddenly see all the wolves in the entire world fighting beside you, don't freak out."

[thisguy]

 

Exactly. He also keeps his access to Tel'aran'rhiod a secret. At this point, I'm not sure Rand even knows the extent of Egwene's talents there, let alone what Perrin can use it too. Which is absurd in the extreme.

 

Yeah, this sort of thing pisses me off. Rand should call a meeting and just ask what people can do.

 

Hello, my name is Rand. I'm a messiah with a daddy complex. I'm a one handed blademaster and the most powerful saidin wielder you guys have got. I'm great at parties because I'm kinda insane. Chicks dig me. I've got 400 years of knowledge. Can touch the TP. And may be the most powerful Ta'veren in the universe.

 

Hi, my name's Perrin. I like to build stuff. I've struggled for 11 books between wanting to chop your head off with a battle axe or smash your skull in with a hammer. I can talk to wolves, might be the most power TAR guy on the light side and I can smell your butt from here. And, let me tell you, I'm kinda turned on.

[b3arz3rg3r]

Exactly. He also keeps his access to Tel'aran'rhiod a secret. At this point, I'm not sure Rand even knows the extent of Egwene's talents there, let alone what Perrin can use it too. Which is absurd in the extreme.

 

Yeah, this sort of thing pisses me off. Rand should call a meeting and just ask what people can do.

 

Hello, my name is Rand. I'm a messiah with a daddy complex. I'm a one handed blademaster and the most powerful saidin wielder you guys have got. I'm great at parties because I'm kinda insane. Chicks dig me. I've got 400 years of knowledge. Can touch the TP. And may be the most powerful Ta'veren in the universe.

 

Hi, my name's Perrin. I like to build stuff. I've struggled for 11 books between wanting to chop your head off with a battle axe or smash your skull in with a hammer. I can talk to wolves, might be the most power TAR guy on the light side and I can smell your butt from here. And, let me tell you, I'm kinda turned on.

LOL that would be funny.

 

They should make a video of themselves sitting in front of a fireplace in a comfort chair when they say that.

[Neophyte]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

[MasterAblar]

But he did. When Egwene said, "We must talk about this. Plan", he said. "That's why I came to you. To let you plan." That's a straight out admission that he doesn't have a plan.

 

Egwene said that in response to him saying breaking the seals was "a risk we must take" and that "the bore must be opened fully again before it can be sealed". Also Rand said he didn't have the answer yet implying that he means to get those answers before he faces the DO. And lastly it doesn't fit with what she told Elayne and Nyneave when she said that surely Rand could seal the DO without breaking the seals.

 

Why assume that she believes he doesn't have a plan when it's also entirely possible that she just doesn't realize he intends to go to face the DO right away?

[thisguy]

Exactly. He also keeps his access to Tel'aran'rhiod a secret. At this point, I'm not sure Rand even knows the extent of Egwene's talents there, let alone what Perrin can use it too. Which is absurd in the extreme.

 

Yeah, this sort of thing pisses me off. Rand should call a meeting and just ask what people can do.

 

Hello, my name is Rand. I'm a messiah with a daddy complex. I'm a one handed blademaster and the most powerful saidin wielder you guys have got. I'm great at parties because I'm kinda insane. Chicks dig me. I've got 400 years of knowledge. Can touch the TP. And may be the most powerful Ta'veren in the universe.

 

Hi, my name's Perrin. I like to build stuff. I've struggled for 11 books between wanting to chop your head off with a battle axe or smash your skull in with a hammer. I can talk to wolves, might be the most power TAR guy on the light side and I can smell your butt from here. And, let me tell you, I'm kinda turned on.

LOL that would be funny.

 

They should make a video of themselves sitting in front of a fireplace in a comfort chair when they say that.

Exactly. It could be like an episode of the Real World - Randland. ;)

[MasterAblar]

Exactly. He also keeps his access to Tel'aran'rhiod a secret. At this point, I'm not sure Rand even knows the extent of Egwene's talents there, let alone what Perrin can use it too. Which is absurd in the extreme.

 

Yeah, this sort of thing pisses me off. Rand should call a meeting and just ask what people can do.

 

Hello, my name is Rand. I'm a messiah with a daddy complex. I'm a one handed blademaster and the most powerful saidin wielder you guys have got. I'm great at parties because I'm kinda insane. Chicks dig me. I've got 400 years of knowledge. Can touch the TP. And may be the most powerful Ta'veren in the universe.

 

Hi, my name's Perrin. I like to build stuff. I've struggled for 11 books between wanting to chop your head off with a battle axe or smash your skull in with a hammer. I can talk to wolves, might be the most power TAR guy on the light side and I can smell your butt from here. And, let me tell you, I'm kinda turned on.

 

Not only is that hilarious, but it's something they really should do.

[thisguy]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

lol

 

Speaking of which - you notice how Mat hasn't been near Perrin or Rand for like 7 books now???? He's the type of guy to tell his wife he's going to the corner store for milk and a pack of cigarettes and never return.

[Hopefire]

 

I think that Egwene was able to resist the ta'veren influence in LOC because it wasn't really necessary for Rand to get the information there from Egwene. The Pattern basically shrugged, said 'sure, whatever' and then prompted Rand to go visit the Stone in TAR at exactly the moment he needed to get the same information.

 

In TOM, she definitely was influenced by the Ta'veren effect, as seen by her dizziness afterwards. She said what she needed to say.

[MasterAblar]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

lol

 

Speaking of which - you notice how Mat hasn't been near Perrin or Rand for like 7 books now???? He's the type of guy to tell his wife he's going to the corner store for milk and a pack of cigarettes and never return.

 

He saw Perrin in ToM.

[thisguy]

I think that Egwene was able to resist the ta'veren influence in LOC because it wasn't really necessary for Rand to get the information there from Egwene. The Pattern basically shrugged, said 'sure, whatever' and then prompted Rand to go visit the Stone in TAR at exactly the moment he needed to get the same information.

 

In TOM, she definitely was influenced by the Ta'veren effect, as seen by her dizziness afterwards. She said what she needed to say.

yeah, I think Tav influence works when it's something the pattern wants or needs, not necessarily when it's something the Tav himself wants.

[Barid Bel Medar]

Then as an addition to the thought, he thinks that he will break the seals, no matter what arguments came up. Not that he was going to break them the very same day.

However, the day before Merrilor, he tells the Borderland rulers that he plans to go to Shayol Ghul in two days (?) to break the Seals.

 

Oh seriously, come on.

 

Take a page out of your own book about Egwene. You were correct in what you said - yet you made up a whole story based on no textual evidence in ToM and actually blamed poor writing and mistakes. Yet you take everything Rand says as extremely literal down to the letter. Really....

 

Rand goes into the meeting fully expecting her reaction. After he tells her to go plan (plan to gather everyone to Merrilor) he is amused. He knows she is angry, anticipates it. He doesn't try and argue with her.

 

Right after he announces his plans to the Borderlanders, Cadsuane doesn't gasp in shock and curse him as an insane fool - which she most certainly would do.

 

No, she has this thought

 

Cadsuane didn't rise. She sat, sipping her tea. The four seemed astounded. Well, the boy certainly had picked up an understanding of the dramatic.

 

Right after he then tells them to swear to him or be left out, which prompts Cadsuane's thought.

 

 

Cadsuane sipped her tea. That was going a little too far.

 

The whole point was a dramatic speech, leaving them stunned so he could take advantage of them. To gain their loyalty. Not to actually tell them his plans.

[thisguy]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

lol

 

Speaking of which - you notice how Mat hasn't been near Perrin or Rand for like 7 books now???? He's the type of guy to tell his wife he's going to the corner store for milk and a pack of cigarettes and never return.

 

He saw Perrin in ToM.

I haven't gotten to that in my reread. Does he slip off quiet like?

[b3arz3rg3r]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

lol

 

Speaking of which - you notice how Mat hasn't been near Perrin or Rand for like 7 books now???? He's the type of guy to tell his wife he's going to the corner store for milk and a pack of cigarettes and never return.

 

He saw Perrin in ToM.

 

No, that never happened. There was never an episode in a tavern with a Master Crimson and a Master Golden. It never happened. You hear me: Never happened!!!

[Amandera]

In TOM, she definitely was influenced by the Ta'veren effect, as seen by her dizziness afterwards. She said what she needed to say.

She also went pretty quickly from "the criminal that has surrendered to judgment" to "straightforward guy that can be trusted with the fate of the world". Yes, she was definitely influenced, just differently from others because Pattern needed a confrontation between Rand and Egwene and it needed the other Aes Sedai to shut up and stop bickering, I think.

[fionwe1987]

Actually, Egwene's way the world will be getting more scars. Each day Rand delays the Last Battle will continue to break the world. Rand's way is basically all or nothing. If he breaks the seals immediately he'll either succeed and the damage will be minimized or he'll fail and the DO breaks free. What Egwene doesn't like are the odds. She wants the odds of Rand's failure to be as close to zero as possible. A very understandable desire of that there is no doubt.

But we know Rand has no plan. If he goes and breaks the Seal now, there's going to be an extended amount of time when the DO has more freedom to affect the world. The problem is not that Rand has a shitty, and risky plan to seal the Bore. He has no plan. He doesn't even know if resealing is the answer or if he should attempt something more permanent. So that means the moment he breaks the Seals, he has consigned the world to stronger hits from the DO. That is Egwene's problem.

There are all those prophecies about his blood washing away the sins of man and his blood on shayol ghul etc so I think actual physical wounds would be fitting. And physical wounds are just more vivid to the imagination than emotional scars. Rand dying the death of a thousand cuts is a far stronger image than Min or Aviendha telling us how much pain he is in and which as usual he'll refuse to show.

That blood is clearly supposed to come from his two wounds on the side. And if the Dragon is one with the Land, and the land's wounds appear on his body, do his wounds appear on the land? Did a part of the world fall into the ocean when he lost his hand?

Only once. In TOM Egwene did exactly what Rand wanted.

No she didn't. As his conversation with Nynaeve shows, he would have preferred if she accepted his plan. Her not accepting it is something he anticipated, though, so he was able to use it to bring all the rulers together. But this is not ta'veren. When ta'veren works, it does so by twisting chance. There was a chance the Sitters would be dumbed into silence before the Dragon Reborn. So ta'veren increased the likely hood of that. Egwene's reaction and conversation with Rand were entirely consistent with her character and their prior interactions. It wasn't a result of ta'veren twisting of fate. No one was surprised by what Egwene said, not her, not the Hall, not Rand.

 

She was allowed to speak because the Pattern wanted for her to speak. And as for Tuon I think she was only able to resist him because Rand was almost at his darkest there and the ta'veren effect actually worked against him because of that.

Ta'veren, and the Pattern, have nothing to do with good and bad, remember?

And the world will pay the price for each day.

No. They'll count each day they get with the Dark One's touch weaker than it could be as a blessing.

Only after VOG has Rand truly become one with the land. So what happened before wouldn't count. And besides according to RJ there are degrees of victory. If the DO destroys the world he may still be unable to break free from his prison, so naturally he won't want that. The DO needs to face the Dragon and overcome him to break free, but the weaker the Dragon the better for him. This also fits with Rand's imagery of running extra laps before facing the DO he told Nynaeve. The more energy he expends before he confronts the DO the harder the battle will be.

We know Rand was always one with the land. Look at what happened in Bandar Eban.

[Hopefire]

I wonder who would be willing to work with Mat for the trust falls?

lol

 

Speaking of which - you notice how Mat hasn't been near Perrin or Rand for like 7 books now???? He's the type of guy to tell his wife he's going to the corner store for milk and a pack of cigarettes and never return.

 

The last time Rand, Mat and Perrin were all together at the same time was near the end of TGH. Even in TSR they never were all three gathered into the same room.

[MasterAblar]

Also there's this from chapter 1 of aMoL, all from Egwene:

 

If we break the seals at the wrong time, I fear it would mean an end to all things.

 

Rand intends to enter the Last Battle and break the seals immediately, but that is a dreadful idea. We have an extended war ahead of us. Freeing the Dark One now will strengthen the forces of the Shadow and weaken us.

 

If it is to be done—and I still don’t know that it has to be—we should wait until the last possible moment.

 

There may be a time to break the seals, but that time is not at the start of the Last Battle, whatever Rand thinks. We must wait for the right moment

 

Nowhere does she mention Rand lacking a plan, whereas it all points to her believing that Rand means to stick around for the Last Battle which Rand supposedly does not intend to do. Now perhaps Barid Bel Medar is right and Rand just flat out lied to everyone when he said he meant to go to Shayol Ghul immediately, in which case there won't be any conflict whatsoever. Nonetheless Egwene's problem with the whole situation is that she thinks Rand means to break the seals, leave it like that, and face the DO at the end of it all. Which one way or another is not what Rand intends to do. His lack of a plan has nothing to do with it, and indeed it is never even mentioned.

 

No, that never happened. There was never an episode in a tavern with a Master Crimson and a Master Golden. It never happened. You hear me: Never happened!!!

 

Tavern? I recall no tavern! There was a badger though...

[fionwe1987]

Egwene said that in response to him saying breaking the seals was "a risk we must take" and that "the bore must be opened fully again before it can be sealed".

Exactly. She wanted to plan the opening of the bore and its resealing. Rand said he was here to let her plan that. He was playing her, but that right there is why she thinks he has no plan.

Also Rand said he didn't have the answer yet implying that he means to get those answers before he faces the DO. And lastly it doesn't fit with what she told Elayne and Nyneave when she said that surely Rand could seal the DO without breaking the seals.

It doesn't fit because Rand and Egwene make all kinds of contradictory statements in ToM.

Why assume that she believes he doesn't have a plan when it's also entirely possible that she just doesn't realize he intends to go to face the DO right away?

Because, you know, he doesn't have a plan, and tomorrow confrontation will carry on seamlessly if what Egwene assumed turns out to be true. Otherwise, Egwene will make a speech, Rand will correct her assumption, Egwene will think she has no reason to oppose him, then Rand will say he does indeed have no plan. Then Egwene will oppose him all over again.

 

Added to that, her statements in chapter 1 that indicate that she thinks there's a long war ahead make it clear she thinks Rand hasn't thought about the effects of his actions on that war. Again, adding to the view that he hasn't planned for the aftermath of breaking the Seals.

I think that Egwene was able to resist the ta'veren influence in LOC because it wasn't really necessary for Rand to get the information there from Egwene. The Pattern basically shrugged, said 'sure, whatever' and then prompted Rand to go visit the Stone in TAR at exactly the moment he needed to get the same information.

That's not how ta'veren works. It twists chance. It doesn't "prompt" people, and doesn't make half hearted attempts. Its not Rand's personal butler!

In TOM, she definitely was influenced by the Ta'veren effect, as seen by her dizziness afterwards. She said what she needed to say.

Actually, that dizziness, not unlike Tuon's trembling in tGS, indicates that she was in fact resisting his ta'veren pull for her to accept his plan.

Then as an addition to the thought, he thinks that he will break the seals, no matter what arguments came up. Not that he was going to break them the very same day.

However, the day before Merrilor, he tells the Borderland rulers that he plans to go to Shayol Ghul in two days (?) to break the Seals.

 

Oh seriously, come on.

 

Take a page out of your own book about Egwene. You were correct in what you said - yet you made up a whole story based on no textual evidence in ToM and actually blamed poor writing and mistakes. Yet you take everything Rand says as extremely literal down to the letter. Really....

 

Rand goes into the meeting fully expecting her reaction. After he tells her to go plan (plan to gather everyone to Merrilor) he is amused. He knows she is angry, anticipates it. He doesn't try and argue with her.

 

Right after he announces his plans to the Borderlanders, Cadsuane doesn't gasp in shock and curse him as an insane fool - which she most certainly would do.

 

No, she has this thought

 

Cadsuane didn't rise. She sat, sipping her tea. The four seemed astounded. Well, the boy certainly had picked up an understanding of the dramatic.

 

Right after he then tells them to swear to him or be left out, which prompts Cadsuane's thought.

 

 

Cadsuane sipped her tea. That was going a little too far.

 

The whole point was a dramatic speech, leaving them stunned so he could take advantage of them. To gain their loyalty. Not to actually tell them his plans.

Fair enough. In the heat of discussion, I forget sometimes that I've concluded that ToM is an unreliable source of info for anything.

[fionwe1987]

Also there's this from chapter 1 of aMoL, all from Egwene:

 

If we break the seals at the wrong time, I fear it would mean an end to all things.

 

Rand intends to enter the Last Battle and break the seals immediately, but that is a dreadful idea. We have an extended war ahead of us. Freeing the Dark One now will strengthen the forces of the Shadow and weaken us.

 

If it is to be done—and I still don’t know that it has to be—we should wait until the last possible moment.

 

There may be a time to break the seals, but that time is not at the start of the Last Battle, whatever Rand thinks. We must wait for the right moment

 

Nowhere does she mention Rand lacking a plan, whereas it all points to her believing that Rand means to stick around for the Last Battle which Rand supposedly does not intend to do. Now perhaps Barid Bel Medar is right and Rand just flat out lied to everyone when he said he meant to go to Shayol Ghul immediately, in which case there won't be any conflict whatsoever. Nonetheless Egwene's problem with the whole situation is that she thinks Rand means to break the seals, leave it like that, and face the DO at the end of it all. Which one way or another is not what Rand intends to do. His lack of a plan has nothing to do with it, and indeed it is never even mentioned.

You yourself quoted the part where he tells her he hasn't figured it out yet.

 

And the reason Egwene doesn't mention Rand's lack of a plan is simple. She can forgive that he doesn't have the answers. But if she thought he had a plan, exactly why would she say, "We have an extended war ahead of us."? Why would there be an extended war if Rand (in Egwene's mind) has a plan to seal the DO?

[b3arz3rg3r]

Actually, Egwene's way the world will be getting more scars. Each day Rand delays the Last Battle will continue to break the world. Rand's way is basically all or nothing. If he breaks the seals immediately he'll either succeed and the damage will be minimized or he'll fail and the DO breaks free. What Egwene doesn't like are the odds. She wants the odds of Rand's failure to be as close to zero as possible. A very understandable desire of that there is no doubt.

But we know Rand has no plan. If he goes and breaks the Seal now, there's going to be an extended amount of time when the DO has more freedom to affect the world. The problem is not that Rand has a shitty, and risky plan to seal the Bore. He has no plan. He doesn't even know if resealing is the answer or if he should attempt something more permanent. So that means the moment he breaks the Seals, he has consigned the world to stronger hits from the DO. That is Egwene's problem.

 

From what I see Rand intends to face the DO even without a concrete plan. He intends to do whatever he can think of at that moment to defeat the DO right after he breaks the seals and not break the seals and then sit down to think what comes next.

 

There are all those prophecies about his blood washing away the sins of man and his blood on shayol ghul etc so I think actual physical wounds would be fitting. And physical wounds are just more vivid to the imagination than emotional scars. Rand dying the death of a thousand cuts is a far stronger image than Min or Aviendha telling us how much pain he is in and which as usual he'll refuse to show.

That blood is clearly supposed to come from his two wounds on the side. And if the Dragon is one with the Land, and the land's wounds appear on his body, do his wounds appear on the land? Did a part of the world fall into the ocean when he lost his hand?

 

Come on, Fionwe. If there's any rule to prophecies in fantasy it's that whenever people think they understand the prophecy you can be sure that whatever they think is wrong. The wound in his side is the biggest one that's true, but that doesn't mean that it'll be the only one.

 

As I said the link was only established in VOG so anything that happened before wouldn't affect anything either way.

 

Only once. In TOM Egwene did exactly what Rand wanted.

No she didn't. As his conversation with Nynaeve shows, he would have preferred if she accepted his plan. Her not accepting it is something he anticipated, though, so he was able to use it to bring all the rulers together. But this is not ta'veren. When ta'veren works, it does so by twisting chance. There was a chance the Sitters would be dumbed into silence before the Dragon Reborn. So ta'veren increased the likely hood of that. Egwene's reaction and conversation with Rand were entirely consistent with her character and their prior interactions. It wasn't a result of ta'veren twisting of fate. No one was surprised by what Egwene said, not her, not the Hall, not Rand.

 

Ok wrong verb. She did what Rand needed not what Rand wanted. And others said there was the pattened dizzyness after the ta'veren effect released her from its grip.

 

She was allowed to speak because the Pattern wanted for her to speak. And as for Tuon I think she was only able to resist him because Rand was almost at his darkest there and the ta'veren effect actually worked against him because of that.

Ta'veren, and the Pattern, have nothing to do with good and bad, remember?

 

That's what Aes Sedai have told us, not what is necessarily the truth. There is a clear corelation between Rand's state and the effect he had on the Pattern. When he was at his darkest there were times when only bad things happened and no good. In TGS but someone who traveled with him noticed exactly that. She said that there should be something good to balance the bad that happened around Rand and was surprised there wasn't anything good happening.

 

In that same vein is Rand threatening Cadsuane to wish her dead. She says that it was impossible, but was it really? Ta'veren is the rarest ability there is in the world, how much scientific study could there be on them. And how would anyone test those theories?

 

And the world will pay the price for each day.

No. They'll count each day they get with the Dark One's touch weaker than it could be as a blessing.

 

No, the world will actually pay the price for each day Rand not breaking the seals and facing the DO. But the price might be worth it if it increases the odds of Rand's victory by a single percent.

Only after VOG has Rand truly become one with the land. So what happened before wouldn't count. And besides according to RJ there are degrees of victory. If the DO destroys the world he may still be unable to break free from his prison, so naturally he won't want that. The DO needs to face the Dragon and overcome him to break free, but the weaker the Dragon the better for him. This also fits with Rand's imagery of running extra laps before facing the DO he told Nynaeve. The more energy he expends before he confronts the DO the harder the battle will be.

We know Rand was always one with the land. Look at what happened in Bandar Eban.

 

I don't think Rand was able to feel earthquakes before VOG or sense the DO as he did in Maradon. Rand changed during VOG, he truly became the Dragon Reborn as that name is meant. That's what I mean. He wouldn't have been able to will those apples to blossom again before VOG.

[Barid Bel Medar]

 

Fair enough. In the heat of discussion, I forget sometimes that I've concluded that ToM is an unreliable source of info for anything.

 

No problem. I wasn't intending the post to be rude, it was meant to be semi-humorous.

 

For the record, I don't necessarily disagree with you. It very well could be that Rand is planning to do exactly as you say.

 

I was just pointing out that we get Egwene retconned. In fact, I am currently reading ToM, and her thoughts in the first chapter go directly against... well... most of her ToM material.

 

There were hints, that you guessed correctly - in fact, you guessed exactly what happened, I was impressed.

 

I think Rand's behaviour is similarly unreliable.

 

In fact, going with the parallel between the two that you have, both of their actual spoken words are unreliable, but we don't see their thoughts.

 

Again, I see it as intentionally deceiving to create tension. To make it not just a flat out lie, hints at the truth are hidden in ToM, but essentially I think it was meant to mislead readers into believing there was going to be a big fight between them.

[thisguy]

Obviously, some of this is written the way it is to keep the reader in suspense. Now, we have Rand trying to come up with another plan that seems to be more than just sealing the DO away.

[MasterAblar]

Exactly. She wanted to plan the opening of the bore and its resealing. Rand said he was here to let her plan that. He was playing her, but that right there is why she thinks he has no plan.

 

She doesn't think he has no plan, she thinks his plan is the wrong one. Not once, whether in ToM, or in the first chapter of aMoL, does Egwene mention the resealing of the bore. Ever. All she talks, and thinks, about, is the breaking of the seals, either that they shouldn't be broken at all, or that they need to be broken at the right moment.

 

It doesn't fit because Rand and Egwene make all kinds of contradictory statements in ToM.

 

Should we just disregard anything from ToM on this subject then? And that's a serious question.

 

Because, you know, he doesn't have a plan, and tomorrow confrontation will carry on seamlessly if what Egwene assumed turns out to be true. Otherwise, Egwene will make a speech, Rand will correct her assumption, Egwene will think she has no reason to oppose him, then Rand will say he does indeed have no plan. Then Egwene will oppose him all over again.

 

Not if BBM is right and Rand is just lying to them all about going to confront the DO right away.

 

 

Added to that, her statements in chapter 1 that indicate that she thinks there's a long war ahead make it clear she thinks Rand hasn't thought about the effects of his actions on that war. Again, adding to the view that he hasn't planned for the aftermath of breaking the Seals.

 

That's precisely what I think she's worried about, but to me it's because she believes Rand means to stick around during the Last Battle rather than face the DO immediately.

[MasterAblar]

You yourself quoted the part where he tells her he hasn't figured it out yet.

 

"Yet" being the key word in that sentence. He didn't tell he wouldn't have the answers then, only that he doesn't have them now. Indeed the "yet" implies that he means to get those answers. What do you think she believes the reason for that month is?

 

And the reason Egwene doesn't mention Rand's lack of a plan is simple. She can forgive that he doesn't have the answers. But if she thought he had a plan, exactly why would she say, "We have an extended war ahead of us."? Why would there be an extended war if Rand (in Egwene's mind) has a plan to seal the DO?

 

Because, to put it bluntly, she doesn't realize that Rand means to go die at Shayol Ghul, like, tomorrow. She thinks he means to fight in the Last Battle.